Peninsula alternative: how Opus Safety compares

If you mainly use Peninsula for employment law and HR at scale, with tribunal support, HR software and a 24/7 line in one place, Peninsula may still be the right fit. If health and safety is the priority and you want the same named consultant writing your assessments and visiting your sites, Opus Safety is the closer alternative. Peninsula is an employment law, HR and health and safety business, with its own software included in the package. Opus is a health and safety consultancy, founded by former health and safety regulators, with occupational health and HR alongside.

What each one is

Peninsula describes itself as an employment law, HR and health and safety services business. Its range covers HR advice and documentation, tribunal support, the BrightHR and BrightSafe software platforms, a 24/7 advice line, and counselling and occupational health assessments. On health and safety, it offers documentation written for you, risk assessment support, and a dedicated consultant who visits your site to carry out audits and assessments.

Opus Safety is a health and safety consultancy first. On the Opus Safety Partnership, a named consultant is appointed as your competent person, visits at a defined frequency, writes your assessments and is on call between visits, for a fixed monthly fee. Your records sit in Opus Compliance Cloud, the same platform the consultant works in. Occupational health surveillance, training and HR support grounded in employment law come from the same business.

The differences that decide it

	Peninsula	Opus Safety
Core business	Employment law and HR, with health and safety	Health and safety, with occupational health and HR
Health and safety delivery	A dedicated consultant visits to carry out audits and assessments; documentation written for you	A named consultant writes your assessments and visits you in person
Between visits	24/7 advice line	The named consultant, on call
Software	BrightSafe for health and safety, BrightHR for HR	Opus Compliance Cloud
Beyond health and safety	HR, employment law, tribunal support, counselling	On-site occupational health surveillance, training, HR and employment law support
Pricing	By quote	By quote

Two rows matter most.

Core business. If HR and employment law are what you ring about most, you are buying an HR service that also covers health and safety. Opus offers HR and employment law support too, so compare that service directly, including what tribunal support each includes. If safety is where the risk sits, the comparison runs the other way.

Who does the work. Both offer a consultant who visits. The question to ask each is how often, whether it is the same person each time, and who writes the assessments once the visit is over.

Where Peninsula is the better answer

• Employment law is your main need and you want it at scale. Tribunal support, HR documentation and HR software sit at the centre of Peninsula's offer.
• You want one supplier for HR advice, HR software and health and safety. Splitting them means two contracts and two relationships.
• You need an advice line that answers at night. Peninsula runs its line 24/7.
• You want counselling for staff through the same provider.

Where Opus is the better answer

• Health and safety is the main risk, and you want your safety provider's main business to be health and safety.
• Your hazards need health surveillance. Opus delivers hearing, lung function and vibration testing on your site, joined to the risk assessments that decide what you owe.
• You want the same consultant every visit, named in your documentation as your competent person.

What to check before you switch

• Your contract term, notice period and renewal clause, in writing. Peninsula's pricing page leads to a quote request, and we have not seen its terms, so read the agreement you signed and ask Peninsula to confirm the dates. We will not describe their terms second hand.
• Who owns your documents, and in what format they come back. Risk assessments, policies, training records and anything held in BrightSafe or BrightHR. Ask how and when you can export it.
• Continuity of your competent person. Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires you to appoint competent assistance, so plan the handover so there is no gap between one appointment ending and the next beginning.
• Whether you are splitting HR from health and safety. If you move safety and keep HR, check how the two suppliers will share anything that touches both, such as absence and occupational health referrals.
• Any customer or insurer contract that names your provider, so the change is notified where it needs to be.

How switching works

We start with a gap analysis: your consultant reviews your policies, risk assessments, safe systems of work and training records against current law, checks them against what happens on site, and gives you an action plan with every gap ranked by severity. What is good carries over; the plan says what needs rewriting. From there the consultant is appointed as your competent person and the visits begin, with your records moving into Opus Compliance Cloud.

Time the start date to your notice period, so the new appointment begins as the old one ends.

Frequently asked questions

Can I leave my Peninsula contract early? It depends on the terms you signed. Read your agreement for the term, the notice period and any renewal clause, and ask Peninsula to confirm them in writing. We have not seen Peninsula's terms and will not describe them second hand.

Is Opus cheaper than Peninsula? Both price their ongoing service by quote. The only fair comparison is two quotes against the same specification: the number of sites, the visits a year, who writes the assessments, and what sits outside the fee.

Does Opus offer employment law support like Peninsula? Yes. Opus's HR support is grounded in employment law and covers grievances, disciplinaries, contracts and handbooks. Ask both providers what tribunal support is included.

Can I use Opus for health and safety and keep Peninsula for HR? Yes, you can split the two. Agree how absence, occupational health referrals and anything else that touches both will be shared.

Will my risk assessments transfer? Your assessments are records of your own business, so ask your current provider how to export them. On moving to Opus, your consultant reviews them in the gap analysis and keeps what is sound.

Do I legally need a provider at all? No. Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires competent assistance, and it expects you to appoint from among your own employees where you have the competence. A provider is how you meet that duty when you do not.

Where to go next

If you are weighing a move, start with a gap analysis. You will know what is in place, what is missing and what a switch would involve before you give anyone notice.